{"id":74863,"date":"2015-05-19T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2015-05-19T01:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=74863"},"modified":"2015-05-19T14:28:56","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T06:28:56","slug":"iium-student-leaders-issue-statement-on-rohingya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=74863","title":{"rendered":"IIUM student leaders issue statement on Rohingya"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ahmad Fadhli Umar bin Aminolhuda<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

GOMBAK, 18 May 2015: Concerned over the current plight of the Rohingyas, IIUM student leaders from various clubs and societies have released a joint statement on the issue as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

“Rohingyas are known as Muslims living in the state of Rakhine, Myanmar. In 1988, their citizenships were cancelled by the military junta and today, the stateless Muslims are stranded in the middle of the sea. Myanmar claims that the Rohingyas are from Bangladesh and Myanmar refuses to acknowledge them as minorities in their country. Rohingyas are also not accepted by Bangladesh as they claimed that this ethnic group did not originate from Bangladesh although there are similarities in language.<\/span>

Now, hunger and thirst have befallen the Ronghiyas as they have nowhere to go and other countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia could not accept more migrants as they are huge in number but the countries are only able to provide help such as giving food, water and clothes for them to survive. They are being denied landing in Southeast Asia. It has laid bare the region’s religious and ethnic prejudices as well as its fears of being swamped by an influx of migrants.<\/span>

Myanmar military government said that:<\/span><\/strong>

\u00a2 Rohingyas are not a genuine ethnic group but are Bengali migrants whose presence is an unwelcome legacy of colonial times.<\/span>

\u00a2 Rohingyas are denied citizenship, freedom to travel, access to education and other benefits in Myanmar, although they are sometimes allowed to vote. In a country where anti-Muslim sentiment is widespread, they are often persecuted.<\/span>

\u00a2 It is not encouraging an exodus, but the Rohingyas say Myanmar’s policies are driving them to flee. They accuse local officials of complicity in migrant trafficking.<\/span>

Neighbours Response on Rohingya Crisis<\/span><\/strong>

Thai and Malaysian navies have both turned away refugee boats in recent days. Indonesia has taken in some migrants but is now refusing to accept them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Predominantly Buddhist Thailand has been battling an Islamist insurgency in the south for decades and has “no stomach” for bringing in more Muslims. In any case, the country has a long history of dealing with unwanted migrants fleeing conflict in Cambodia and has no desire to repeat that, Rieffel says.<\/span>

For Thailand, the Prime Minister is concerned about the budget if they want to\u00c2\u00a0 save them.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Indonesia and Malaysia, both Muslim-majority countries, the issue is less clear-cut, but they are also interested in avoiding the appearance that they are opening the gates as it will create social issues.<\/span>

Most of the countries are afraid that if they accept them, there will be an ‘uncontrolled influx’.<\/span>

Thus, in this kind of situation, we urge the Government of Myanmar to:<\/span><\/strong>

1. Supervise the humanitarian access of those being affected by conflict and take action against those who intimidate humanitarian agencies.<\/span>

2. Come up with a way to ensure safe voluntary movements.<\/span>

3. Provide protection to the people of the state of Rokhine by putting an end to impunity, prosecute offenders comitting violence through a just judicial system, arrange for the release of those who have been unjustly arrested.<\/span>

4. Ensure that all persons have equal rights and access to citizenship and not being discriminated on the grounds of ethnicity by reviewing the 1982 Citizenship Act and other discriminatory laws.<\/span>

Some experts say that simply towing refugees back out to sea may be illegal under international maritime law. However, according to Lawrence B. Brennan, a professor of admiralty and international law at Fordham University, the maritime law has the concept of ‘port of refuge’ for ships and people in peril at sea. There is a long-standing tradition of providing aid and comfort to people who are in danger.<\/span>

Thus, the international obligation of all countries requires people to protect all persons subject to their jurisdiction regardless of whether they are citizens, stateless persons, or seekers or refugees.<\/span>

Therefore, we also urge the Malaysian Government to:<\/span>

1. Give basic aid to the Rohingyas stranded on the boat that includes food, clean water and temporary shelter for them.<\/span>

2. We also urge the Malaysian Government, as current chairman of ASEAN, to organise an urgent meeting with all ASEAN members to solve this issue now and forever. We really think that a solution must be reached as fast as possible.<\/span>

Therefore, we hope that the refugees would be protected by refugee recipient countries by taking into account the acute and specific protection of stateless Rohingya as soon as possible. This is an issue of humanity. We also strongly urge that all the violence, denial of rights, discrimination and abuse must end now as an act of genocide is clearly prohibited by the International Law.<\/span>

In conclusion, we, especially being Muslims, this is our obligation to help our brothers and sisters who are in need, as the Prophet told that,<\/span>

“\u00d9\u2026\u00d9\u2020 \u00d9\u201e\u00d9\u2026 \u00d9\u0160\u00d9\u2021\u00d8\u00aa\u00d9\u2026 \u00d8\u00a8\u00d8\u00a3\u00d9\u2026\u00d8\u00b1 \u00d8\u00a7\u00d9\u201e\u00d9\u2026\u00d8\u00b3\u00d9\u201e\u00d9\u2026\u00d9\u0160\u00d9\u2020 \u00d9\u0081\u00d9\u201e\u00d9\u0160\u00d8\u00b3 \u00d9\u2026\u00d9\u2020\u00d9\u2021\u00d9\u2026”<\/span>

Those who do not care about the condition of fellow Muslims, they are not one of them.<\/span>

To fellow IIUM community, we really hope that all of us can be aware of this issue and show our concerns to fellow Muslims. It is our responsibility to be aware and help them in whatever capabilities we have. Channel your donation to respective foundations and collection bodies. May our small contribution be counted as a form of goodness towards mankind.”<\/span>

Organisations agreeing to this Joint Statement<\/span><\/strong>

1. Law Students’ Society (Lawsoc IIUM)<\/span>
2. Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science Students’ Society (IRKHSSS)<\/span>
3. Students’ Representative Council IIUM (SRC IIUM)<\/span>
4. Economics and Management Sciences Students’ Society (EMSS)<\/span>
5. Kulliyyah of Languages and Management Students’ Society (KLMSS)<\/span>
6. Sahabat YADIM UIAM<\/span>
7. Inspire Club IIUM<\/span>
8. Malaysian Red Crescent IIUM<\/span>
9. Wawasan Club IIUM<\/span>
10. Quranic Youth Club (QYC)<\/span>
11. Entrepreneurship Club (EC)<\/span>
12. IIUM Journalism Club (JC)<\/span>
13. Sekretariat Pencegahan Rasuah IIUM<\/span>
14. JKQ CLUB IIUM<\/span>
15. COMRADE IIUM<\/span>
16. Arabic Debating & Public Speaking Club IIUM<\/span>
17. Ma’ruf Club IIUM<\/span>
18. Engineering Students’ Society (ENGINIUS IIUM)<\/span>
19. Bachelor of Education Students’ Association (BEDSA)<\/span>
20. Islamic Revealed Knowledge Students Secretariat (ISRAK)<\/span>
21. JASA CLUB IIUM<\/span>
22. Al Aqsa Friends’ Society<\/span>
23. Permuafakatan Siswa Siswi FELDA (PERSADA)<\/span>
24. IIUM MUN Club<\/span>
25. Mahallah Representative Coordination Committee (MRCC IIUM)<\/span>
26. Sendi club<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credited to\u00c2\u00a0AP\/Anurup Titu<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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